


a trickster wind is blowin'

by tigriswolf



Series: 'shifter verse [3]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Con Artists, Dubious Consent, F/M, Gen, Mind Games, POV Alternating, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21746284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: Everyone knows James Bonds is a shifter but no one knows what kind.
Relationships: Diana Berrigan/Christie, Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke, Kate Moreau/Vincent Adler, Neal Caffrey/Kate Moreau, Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey, Vincent Adler/Neal Caffrey
Series: 'shifter verse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567294
Comments: 36
Kudos: 139





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title: a trickster wind is blowin’  
> Disclaimer: not my charactrs; title from Seanan McGuire’s “Counting Crows”  
> Fandom: White Collar  
> Wordcount: WIP?  
> Pairings: El/Peter, Neal/Kate  
> Rating: PG  
> Point of view: third
> 
> Note: I’ve been marathoning White Collar and so the shifter ‘verse decided to creep back in. This is the same AU as the 1D and Fast&Furious fics, though they don’t all occur in the same canon. I’m not sure how much more I’ll write for White Collar in this same vein, but the brainstorming has been fun. 
> 
> Should I add more, this ‘verse would begin to head towards El/Neal/Peter.

Everyone knows James Bonds is a shifter but no one knows what kind. Most of the FBI team chasing him puts money on some sort of bird because of all the escapes; the remaining few are evenly divided between kinds of cat. Peter, though, examines the evidence again and again, stares at the stills and the footage of their thief, and thinks back to that one encounter before he knew how far this case would go.  
  
Feline or avian, both make sense. Peter knows in his gut, though, that James Bonds isn't either.   
  
A year into the chase, Elizabeth decides they're taking a two-week vacation, so they go to her parents' land in Illinois, where they settle into the guesthouse. El hasn't run with Peter in years, both of them too busy and the city too crowded, so her parents' property is actually just as much of a getaway as a tropical vacation would be. Much as Peter loves his parents-in-law, he's glad they've gone on a cruise, and immediately realizes El must've timed it that way. They sleep in, curled together, and then Peter makes breakfast, and then El smirks at him, steps onto the porch, and [shifts](https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Grey-Fox-Website_49.jpg). She gleams in the morning light, her shimmering silver fur and the black stripe along her spine. She yips at him and darts onto the grass, out of sight before he even makes it to the porch.  
  
He chuckles, [shifts](https://pixels.com/featured/timber-wolf-jabez-art.html), and follows, his long legs eating up the distance between them, his nose caught on her scent, just as lovely as the first day they met. It's freeing to run, and he throws back his head to howl just for the sheer joy of doing so, and up ahead, he hears El with her version of a howl.   
  
It's the best morning he's had in awhile.  
  
.  
  
James Bonds becomes Neal Caffrey; Peter has his scent and gets closer and closer, and finally, Kate Moreau is the way in. They don't interview her, don't know if she knows she's being watched, just lie in wait and wait and wait.  
  
Everyone except Peter has decided Caffrey must be a feline of some kind; Peter hasn't argued with anyone about it, he just still knows the kid isn't, either.  
  
When the team bursts in, Caffrey isn't surprised. He looks at Peter and back at Moreau, his hands in her hair, cradling her face, and he murmurs, "I love you."  
  
Moreau doesn't look surprised, either, or devastated the way Caffrey does, and much later, Peter will remember that.  
  
.  
  
Even though catching Caffrey is a big win for his team, even though he testified about Caffrey's crimes, even though Caffrey hasn't given a single shred of evidence towards feeling guilty at all—he's a non-violent offender and being sent to maximum security just because he's a shifter bothers Peter in ways it hasn't before. It could be Caffrey's age: they have no trustworthy records of him before he popped on the radar and everyone agrees Neal Caffrey isn't his birthname. It's also that he _is_ non-violent; maybe if they knew what he was, he could've swung a deal to a lesser prison. All correctional facilities had shifter wings and the one crime Caffrey was convicted for should've sent him to minimum security.  
  
But he won't admit to being a shifter at all and no one, even Moreau, will testify as to what he is. He's a literal flight-risk, and he's too good to be given less than maximum security.  
  
Caffrey doesn't react to the sentencing except to nod an acknowledgment. Peter watches him look towards Kate, who has tears on her face, and then watches as Caffrey is escorted out of the room.  
  
Peter goes back to the office. The Caffrey case is wrapped up and there's more criminals to catch. Days and weeks and months pass, and Peter doesn't think about Caffrey anymore.  
  
Not until the birthday card, delivered to his house on his actual birthday. Peter examines it and honestly cannot tell if Caffrey somehow found the means to forge a Hallmark card in prison or bought it online, and he decides that, as the card isn’t evidence of a crime, he doesn’t need to report it. The next year, there’s another card, and the year after that. It’s a continuation of the somehow courteous/mocking behavior from when Peter chased Caffrey around the world and he’d send hot beverages or take-out to the teams following him.  
  
Of course, if Caffrey still thinks his crimes and imprisonment is some kind of game, he hasn’t learned a thing, and that reminds Peter how young the kid must be.  
  
“It’s kinda sweet,” El tells him the day the fourth birthday card arrives. “Like when you surveilled me.”  
  
Peter just looks at her, eyebrow raised, and she smiles.  
  
Two weeks later, right after his evidence blows up in a bank vault, Diana reports that Caffrey escaped his maximum security prison with 3 months left on his sentence.  
  
.  
  
Caffrey isn’t even trying to hide when Peter finds him sprawled against a support column in his (ex?)girlfriend’s apartment holding an empty wine bottle. Everything about him, from his body language to his scent to his words, is dejected, pathetic. It tempers Peter’s satisfaction at catching him again.  
  
But Peter knows his duty. “You carrying?” he asks. “Gonna shift?”  
  
“You know I don’t like guns,” Caffrey responds, setting the bottle on the floor. Like he has before, he ignores the question about shifting. Peter inhales, trying to memorize his scent because it is _familiar_ , somehow, what his other shape must be. Not feline, not avian, not canine, not ursine, Peter’s pretty sure, and not the cold, off-putting scent of reptilians—did he somehow find a way to conceal his own inherent scent? Honestly, that wouldn’t be a surprise, considering just how damned talented Caffrey is. The sheer potential, wasted as a con-man and a forger, it’s like a slap in the face.  
  
“You’re gonna get four more years for this, you know,” Peter tells the idiot kid and Caffrey just shrugs, muttering, “I don’t care.” He’s young enough to still turn his life around and Peter wants to _shake_ him until the lesson takes.  
  
But he just sighs and reports into his radio as Caffrey smoothly rises to his feet. Peter sees the momentary calculations in his gaze, Caffrey considering running—it’d get him shot and Peter desperately hopes, for just those few seconds, that Caffrey won’t because it’d be such a _waste_ —and then Caffrey chuckles, shaking his head.  
  
“That’s the same suit you wore the last time you arrested me,” he says, and they’re bantering while the teams begin entering the building.  
  
And then, as Caffrey steps closer, all of his focus on Peter, everything about him sharpening, Peter lets him grab one of those threads off his shoulder and there’s what seems to be honest excitement in his voice, in his eyes, all dejection washed away.  
  
Peter, he’ll admit to himself later, would’ve agreed to a meeting just to keep Caffrey looking that excited, but he didn’t know then, and frankly, that’s par for the course for Neal Caffrey.  
  
.  
  
The meeting goes about as well as it could’ve, and Caffrey makes an impassioned, well-rehearsed-without-seeming-rehearsed argument, and Peter listens and watches, and knows better, so he turns the kid down and goes back to work.  
  
That night, and four nights later, and a night three weeks later, and then on the night Caffrey would’ve been released, he goes through the box of cards and his case notes, and replays Caffrey’s argument in his mind.  
  
“Would you have done it for me?” El asks, one hand on his arm and the other opening the first birthday card.  
  
Neal Caffrey could be so much more than a con-man and a forger and a thief, than the felon he’ll be branded for life, and Peter leans forward to kiss El already planning what he’ll say to convince everyone who needs convincing.  
  
.  
  
According to the records, Caffrey never shifted while in prison. Inmates are only allowed to shift in their cells but Caffrey never did. The monitoring anklet won’t shift with him and, depending on what he is, he’ll either slip through it or break it if he does shift. Honestly, Peter considers it cruel and unusual that while he’s leashed to the Marshalls and Peter he’s forbidden to shift unless his life is in danger, but Neal just elegantly shrugs and gets into Peter’s car.  
  
Peter shakes his head in resigned disbelief and hopes Caffrey won’t get into too much trouble before the deal is done.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 5 first meetings and 1 last goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is dubious consent in this chapter: on-screen for Kate and Vincent Adler, and implied for Neal and Adler. if that's a trigger, skip the first Kate section and the Adler section. 
> 
> i also don't entirely believe the canon backstory given in the flashback episode, so i'm playing fast&loose with it. and possibly with Neal's canon backstory with James Bennet. haven't decided if that's canon in my fic. feel free to weigh in. 
> 
> also, i've mostly decided on which of the characters are shifters and which are human, and what the shifters are but feel free to weigh in on that, too.

**Mozzie  
  
** The kid is just a mark at first, another sucker at find the lady, eager and wide-eyed, and then he pulls a sleight of hand so slick Mozzie doesn’t see it until its done and that is damned impressive. It is also probably means that, despite his unremarkable human scent he isn’t human because Mozzie’s eyes would’ve caught it otherwise. The kid’s gone with $500 and Mozzie doesn’t even look back at his ex-partner (who he’s been wanting to drop for weeks, anyway) as he [shifts](https://www.flickr.com/photos/43843420@N04/5998957447) to follow.  
  
The kid’s good and doesn’t make it easy, but Mozzie tracks him to a modest flat, waits long enough for him to hide the cash, and knocks on the door.   
  
“That was impressive,” he says, smiling without teeth, body loose and at rest because he doesn’t want to appear like a threat.  
  
“Thanks,” the kid says warily.   
  
Mozzie takes a moment to assess the kid, head to toe: sleek, attractive, guarded, and not quite done growing so kit is more accurate than kid. (Especially since he’s not a goat shifter because, except for that one batch of government experiments that imploded, goat shifters don’t exist). The kit assesses him right back, blue eyes cold and dangerous; Mozzie decides right then and there that the kid needs a keeper because you never reveal you could be a threat until the last moment.  
  
“I’m Mozzie,” he says. “May I have permission to enter your den?” Which, this flat is a terrible den, he knows that just from the location, but he’ll save that for later.  
  
The kit stares at him for a moment more before moving to the side so that Mozzie can slip past him. “Call me Neal,” the kit tells him.  
  
And then Neal smiles, bright and charming, no teeth, and Mozzie thinks, _You could be something great._  
  
(He’s not wrong.)  
  
  
  
 **Kate  
  
** Nick Halden tries to charm her on his first day at Vincent’s firm and Kate lets herself appear like it’s working—most of Vincent’s staff and clients have hit on her and it’s part of the game, but there is something special about Nick. She reports back, of course, because Vincent’s orders are to inform him of everything that happens in the office. Nick is younger than the rest of Vincent’s men and he’s just a touch too eager.  
  
“He thinks I’m a mark,” Vincent laughs, holding a hand out to Kate, so she goes to him. He’s only ever been kind, but she still doesn’t like it when he kisses her, trails his hands along her skin. He doesn’t scentmark her only because it might give the game away to his own future victims. “Oh, my dear Katie,” he murmurs against her lips. “You should’ve been a cat of some kind, something elegant and beautiful.” She doesn’t tense, doesn’t react except to open her lips but he sighs and pulls back.  
  
Gratefully, and trying to hide it, Kate steps away. “Will that be all, Mr. Adler?” she asks brightly.  
  
Vincent’s smile has just a hint of teeth. “Get close to this Nick Halden,” he orders. “And schedule me a meeting with him for sometime next week.”  
  
Kate nods, collects her clipboard and a handful of folders from Vincent’s desk, and drops it all on her own desk before going to the restroom to wash her hands and neck. Vincent has told her how to hide scents, that it’s an important part of cons, that it could be the difference between life and death. He’s described her own scent to her, and even [shifted](https://www.123rf.com/photo_116639939_white-wolf-in-the-snow.html) for her once. He’s taught her to spot the small tells of shifters trying to hide themselves.  
  
She returns to her desk, settles in, and waits for Nick Halden. He must’ve decided she’s his way in because he’s attentive, sweetly charming, and just a hint bashful when she flirts back. When she tells him that Vincent has requested a meeting, there’s a bit of smugness in his tone as he agrees for an appointment the following Wednesday.  
  
She schedules it and then demurs when Nick invites her out for a coffee. The hunt should never appear too easy, after all.  
  
  
 **Adler  
  
** The pup’s name is clearly not Nick Halden but he has potential. His attempt at Vince’s accounts is cute, and Vince is actually reluctantly charmed when Nick arrives to their appointment with Vince’s favorite tea and muffin, presenting them with the flourish of a pup’s first kill. He’s witty and engaging, far better than many partners Vince has had on past jobs, and if Vince isn’t careful, he might even lose some of his current pack to the pup’s magnetism.  
  
At the end of the meeting, Vince lets Nick in, just a little, to whet the chase. He stands and approaches Nick; Nick stands, too, stance open and excited but Vince detects a hint of wariness on the air. Vince decides, as he reaches to put a hand on the back of Nick’s neck that he might try wooing Nick into the pack.  
  
Nick, whatever his other half is, clearly knows how to speak wolf: he loosens under Vince’s grip, face tilted just enough for Vince to see his throat, keeps his gaze lowered. Whatever game he’s playing, Vince knows it’s going to be _fun_.   
  
  
**June  
  
** Byron’s lingering scent on his clothes is both wonderful and devastating, so June carefully picks through them, removing from her burrow the ones that have the least emotional impact and taking them to the closest thrift store. It hurts a little, setting down the garment bags, but she knows it to be for the best, that donating them so others find use in them will aid in her own healing.  
  
She notices the man approaching slowly as she chats with the clerk, and then the man announces, “Those are amazing,” and waits for acknowledgement to come closer. He’s charming and quick, slipping into Byron’s jacket with ease, and June bites back tears. She cries in no one’s presence. She watches him play with Byron’s favorite hat, his hands as quick as his wit, and lets him maneuver the conversation, allows him to charm his way into her guestroom.  
  
“I’m Neal,” he says, and leads the way out of the shop, Byron’s clothes in the garment bag under his arm. He waits while Calvin opens the trunk and carefully deposits the bag inside, and then slides into the backseat beside June.  
  
“Tell me, Neal,” she begins, setting her hand on his arm as Calvin starts the car. “How long have you been out?”  
  
His gaze flicks to her and then away, everything absolutely perfect in presenting respect for an elder, following guidance. His scent is familiar and strange, some kind of masking smell; Byron and Ford’s crew spent a few years trying to create something like it because such a concoction would be quite lucrative. Now isn’t the time to ask Neal about it, though.  
  
“A day,” he answers.  
  
“And the device on your ankle?” she asks.  
  
He smiles, a slight, brief thing, and replies, “How do you feel about the FBI?”  
  
That evening, after Neal has settled into the guestroom, after dinner with Cindy and Neal flirting (harmlessly, on both sides), June undresses, rearranges Byron’s nightclothes on their bed, [shifts](https://www.flickr.com/photos/alaskafreezeframe/32463323425), and curls up in her nest, the closest she can get to Byron anymore.   
  
In the morning, she’ll wake up and continue living.  
  
  
 **Elizabeth  
  
** She didn’t attend Neal Caffrey’s trial or sentencing but when she opens the door at five past 7 after hearing a polite, inquisitive knock there’s no mistaking who’s standing on the porch.  
  
The surveillance photos do not do him justice.  
  
“Mrs. Burke, hi!” he says brightly. “I know I’m a little early but may I enter your den?”  
  
Peter will be furious and amused, but Elizabeth grins (without teeth) and allows Neal Caffrey into her home.  
  
All of Peter’s ranting, all of his complaints and reluctant (and not so reluctant) admiration, all of his descriptions and reports about Neal Caffrey’s charm and magnetism and sheer likability—well, it didn’t do him justice, either.  
  
“Peter’s upstairs getting ready,” she tells him. “Would you like coffee?”  
  
“No, thank you,” he says, gazing around the front hall and living area. “You have a lovely den.”  
  
Oh, this man is dangerous.  
  
“You know, Peter was going to pick you up this morning,” Elizabeth says, gesturing to the couch.  
  
“I do know, yes,” he admits with a hint of chagrin as he elegantly settles onto the couch. She sits next to him, slightly turned to face him, not at all embarrassed to show how impressed she is with him. He leans in; she doesn’t lean away, and he whispers, “Wanna know a secret?”  
  
“Always,” she answers.  
  
Neal Caffrey is going to be so much trouble—  
  
But as Peter stares down at them, trying to hide it, Elizabeth sees the desire in his eyes and knows it's not all for her.  
  
  
  
 **Kate  
  
** She stands by the airplane door, peering out, and considers telling the pilot to begin takeoff even though Neal hasn’t shown yet. Almost four years through glass, another with Fowler and Adler, and now, just minutes away from escape—and there he is, rushing into the hangar, and Kate has to smile.  
  
“Neal!” she shouts and he shouts back, “Kate!” and she really has missed him, that stupid, charming boy who tried to trick Vincent Adler, who walked into a trap just to kiss her again, who escaped prison to find her because he thought she needed help—  
  
It’s almost over. The music box is with Vincent’s pawn and Neal still loves her, and they’ll be set for life.  
  
But then Peter Burke arrives and calls for Neal, and Kate watches in disbelief as Neal stops and turns. She can’t hear them over the engines but she knows they’re arguing. That Neal hasn’t already boarded the plane means Burke matters more than intel suggested. She moves back from the door and looks out a window instead, and shouts for Neal again. He reacts, steps away from Burke and toward the plane, and then turns back _again_ , and this is taking too long.  
  
Her phone rings. Neal is facing Burke, and Kate answers almost angrily, “What?”  
  
Vincent says, “Goodbye, my dear.”   
  
Kate says, “Wha—”


	3. Pilot (1/2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 5 drabbles from the pilot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 drabbles for the pilot. I have 5 more in the works, and ideas for stuff beyond the ep. As I move forward, I think I'm going to aim for chapters of about 1000 words.

Peter flinches at the smell and noise as he guides Neal into the motel that $700 a month buys; Neal makes a small moue of disgust but has no other discernable reaction. Peter forces himself to ignore all the unpleasant stimuli and check Neal in. Of course, Neal decides to raise a quiet fuss, and yeah, the place is awful but it has to be better than prison, right?   
  
He should’ve known that Neal would take _find some place better_ as a challenge.  
  
...  
  
His first night out of the cage in four years, Neal sleeps outside on the terrace. He slips into the nightwear June provided, stretches out on the floor, a pillow beneath his head, and looks at the sky. No stars, of course, but just the sky itself is breath-taking. It's chilly outside; he's been colder, though, and even the wind is soothing because he's outside and alone, and while he wishes Kate was with him—even more than her, though, Neal wants to shift, longs for it more than he has in years.   
  
This first night, Neal dozes and wakes with the sun. June and Cindy arrive not long after and knock on the door, and then actually wait for him to invite them in. One of June's staff brings up nibbles and coffee and they all settle at the table. Neal doesn’t contribute much to the conversation, instead looking out over New York, listening and watching and scenting.   
  
He isn't free, not yet. Peter has caught him twice and Neal knows everyone expects him to run. He has a dozen plans in the works for what he'd do, where he'd go, resources Mozzie and Kate and Alex know, resources they don't.   
  
June pats his hand and goes back downstairs. Cindy stretches and goes for a walk around the roof. Neal tilts his head, closes his eyes, and listens to New York.  
  
…  
  
Diana hears Peter and Caffrey bantering before she sees them coming down the corridor. She’s read all the files and reports but she’s determined to reserve judgement until she has firsthand experience with the man. She lets the customs’ agent know the boss has arrived and strides over to meet him.  
  
She both hears and sees Caffrey’s appreciative look and decides to acknowledge him with a bit of her own charm. Peter’s amused by her banter with Caffrey throughout the briefing; they skirt along the line between distracting and playful, and it’s actually fun. When Peter goes to talk to Field, Caffrey turns to face her and says, “Probie?”  
  
Grinning, with teeth, Diana glances over. “Not anymore,” she replies. “You’re not going to be my problem.”  
  
He puts a hand to his heart, fakes offense. “A problem, Agent Berrigan?”  
  
She has to chuckle. “Impress me, Caffrey.” She catches the eye of nearby customs’ official and smiles slightly. To Caffrey, she says, “Impress Peter. He’s taking a huge risk on you.” With a nod, she steps away from the bags of books; the pretty agent meets her by the window, and Diana goes to work.  
  
That evening, after Field dies and Caffrey figures out the Dutchman’s plan, Diana walks into her apartment and wraps Christie in her arms. “On the way to work?” she asks.  
  
“Yeah,” Christie answers, pressing a quick kiss to Diana’s cheek. “Do you need me to call in?”  
  
Diana squeezes her tight and then lets go, pulling back. “No, no. I just. I’m gonna go for a quick flight, I think.”  
  
“Okay, babe.” Christie leans in to kiss her again, longer and deeper on her lips. “Have fun.”   
  
After she locks the door, waving to Christie, Diana changes into her pjs, opens the tiny, hidden window that’s the reason she chose this apartment complex when she moved to New York, and [shifts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_blackbird). She flutters to the ‘sill and launches herself out.  
  
It never gets easier, dealing with death. She wanted to do good and use the people skills she learned as a diplomat’s daughter, so she went to the FBI; she didn’t want to work with violence, with brutality—so white collar crime, moving up the ranks to the New York office. She’s held Christie through losing patients, and Charlie still haunts her dreams, the gentle wolf throwing himself over her body and taking bullets meant for her. Charlie wasn’t her fault or her responsibility but Field was.  
  
But what’s done is done. Diana banks, climbs, and then slowly wings her way home. She needs a good night’s rest, to be at her best, to help the team bring the Dutchman in.  
  
…  
  
Neal pauses in the lobby; Peter glances back at him. “Problem?”  
  
“Of course not,” Neal says brightly and Peter watches as his body language shifts. Even his scent changes slightly, becoming wolf-like. Peter shakes his head in reluctant admiration and resigned annoyance. “C’mon, Peter,” Neal tells him, gently bumping into Peter’s shoulder as he steps ahead of him.  
  
Peter knows what he’s doing and decides to play along. “Oh, no, you don’t,” he says, catching Neal’s sleeve and stepping back in front. “Gotta sign you in, get you a pass.” He nods to the guard at the desk. “Hey, Steve, you should have a pass for Neal Caffrey.” To Neal, he says, “Your badge for the building is on the way.” He’ll only get it if they catch the Dutchman.  
  
“Steve,” Neal says as he hands back the clipboard. Peter notices that while Neal wrote his own name, he used Peter’s handwriting. Neal just smiles at him when Peter rolls his eyes.  
  
...  
  
Clinton is used to being the lone human among ‘shifters: his half-siblings and step-siblings, at the Academy, in the navy, at the FBI. After so many years watching, he’s learned to notice the subtleties of 'shifter interaction though his translating skills still need work. He’s not the only human in New York’s white collar office but he is one of two on Agent Burke’s team.  
  
When Burke escorts Caffrey into the office, Clinton catches the gaze of Adrienne, the other human, and they share a tiny smile as the 'shifters all do their little dance of _this is MY space.  
  
_ “Everyone,” Burke announces, “this is Neal Caffrey. He’s currently acting as a consultant and my criminal informant.” There’s a low, biting tone in Burke’s voice, a hint of a snarl. Clinton knows he’s not the only one remembering Burke’s lecture the day before on protocol and how to treat consultants, especially felons who everyone would have power over. Burke would tolerate no impropriety, no abuse. “Jones,” Burke says, gesturing towards Caffrey. “Get him set-up with paperwork. When that’s done, we’ll have a meeting with Diana, catch everyone up to speed.”  
  
“Yes, sir.” Clinton nods at his desk. “C’mon, Caffrey.”  
  
“I remember you,” Caffrey tells him, leaning on the edge of Clinton’s desk.  
  
“You were my first big case,” Clinton shoots back, holding out a stack of paper. “Do I need to explain these to you?”  
  
Caffrey smiles with teeth. Clinton smiles back, also with teeth. “If I have a question, I’ll ask,” Caffrey says. He quietly starts going through the pile; Clinton watches carefully, to make sure he’s not just scanning the forms but actually reading them. Once he’s sure, Clinton returns to the report he’s been working on. He ignores all of the covert stares from his co-workers who are failing at being subtle.   
  
“Am I the first celebrity in the office?” Caffrey murmurs, a smirk in the corner of his lips when Clinton glances up.  
  
Clinton realizes he might actually like the guy.


End file.
